Ozone recovery provides hope for climate

5:07 PM,
Oct. 3, 2012

Written by

David Doniger

Climate change is not our first planetary pollution crisis. Almost 40 years ago, scientists discovered that chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons were destroying the fragile ozone layer that protects us from the sun's dangerous UVB radiation. That would have condemned millions of people around the world to die from skin cancer, go blind with cataracts or suffer from immune diseases.

But the world came together and averted a catastrophe. The crowning moment came 25 years ago this month when the United States joined other nations to sign the world's most successful environmental treaty, ...